Screen and frame assembly



Oct.3 1961 B. w. ROTH TAL 3,002,557

SCREEN AND FRAME ASSEMBLY Filed oct. `2, 195e 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 l M u MIN VEN TORS.

ERT W ROTH @fc/mko FRAMPTO/v Oct. 3, 1961 B. w. ROTH ETAL SCREEN ANDFRAME ASSEMBLY Filed Oct. 2, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS. BERT' IM@0f/l Oct. 3, 1961 B. w. ROTH ErAL SCREEN AND FRAME ASSEMBLY 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed 00's. 2, 1958 l H6. 4 www Kme,

Arran/Hf 3,002,557 SCREEN AND FRAME ASSEMBLY Bert W. Roth, New Rochelle,and Richard Frampton, Malverne, NX., assignors to Trans-Lux Corporation,New York, NY., a corporation of Delaware Filed Het. 2, 1958, Ser. No.764,98@ 3 Claims. (Cl. 160--351) This invention relates to astructurally and functionally improved screen assembly which may beadvantageously employed in numerous different associations, but whichwill be of particular value when used to receive light images definedthereon by still and motion picture projectors, so that a backgroundscene may be defined in, for example, a television studio.

, By means of the present teachings, an assembly is furnished in whichthe screen will be maintained in properly extended condition, free fromwrinkles or other defects; the use of the improved structure assuringthat the screen will be properly taut and maintained in this conditionirrespective of the area of that screen.

A further object is that of providing a screen assembly which may be setup by relatively unskilled labor, and so that properly delined lightimages may be created thereon regardless of whether a small or a largebackground screen is being provided.

Still another object is that of designing a screen in which severalcomponents may readily be grouped in proper fashion with respect to eachIother to furnish a frame suitable for use with large, medium o r smallscreens, and in which the structure may be rapidlydisassembled forstorage and shipment when it is desirable to do so.

With these and other objects in mind, reference is had to the attachedsheets of drawings illustrating one practical embodiment of theinvention and in which:

FIG. l is a partly fragmentary front view of a screen;

FIG. 2 is a similar side elevation of the assembly;

FIG. 3 is a sectional sideview in slightly enlarged scale of thecomponents of one of the frame members, coupled to each other;

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view in enlarged scale showing insection a preferred arrangement of the assembly adjacent the lower framemember;

FIG. 5 is a sectional plan view taken along the line 5 5 in thedirection of (the arrows as indicated in FIG. 4;

IFIGS. 6 and 7 are fragmentary transverse sectional views takenrespectively along the lines 6--6 and 7-7 in the direction of the arrowsas indicated in FIG. 4;

FlGS. 8, 9 and l0 are views showing various positions to which the partsof the corner units of the frame may be adjusted; and

FIG. l1 is a transverse sectional View in enlarged scale taken along theline llll1 in the direction of the arnows as indicated in FIG. 9. i

Referring primarily to FIGS. l and 2, the screen frame includeshorizontally and vertically extending supporting members ll and 12defining a frame. Within the latter a screen body 13 is disposed. Thatbody is preferably formed with a marginally reinforced zone 14 whichassists in the supporting of the screen by the frame. The

-details of this support, as well as the preferred design of thesupporting members, will hereinafter be described. The frame assemblymay include merely the foregoing ligatented Got. 3, 1961 components,plus corner pieces which will maintain Vthe screen body in properly tautcondition, plus some mou-nting expedient. ln most instances it isdesired to have the trame of a mobile character. structure isconveniently associated with the frame and may include verticallyextending supports 1S secured adjacent their upper ends by clamps 16 tothe side members l2 of the frame. The base portions of the supports l5may be deiined by tubular'members 17, again attached by suitable clampslil, or otherwise, to the frame assembly adjacent the lower ends of thevertical supporting members l2. Parts 17 are secured in any desirablemanner to plates l@ mounted by horizontally extending supports 20. Thevertically extending structures above these supports may be braced byhingedly coupled straps 2l secured at their upper ends to the supportsl5 and at their lower ends to members 2d at points rearwardly of themain frame. Casters or wheels 22 lie below the members 2li, so that theentire assembly will be mobile.

Having in mind that the present structure is especially intended for usein television studios to provide proper backgrounds, and also having inmind that the light images projected on the screen will emanate from aprojector disposed rearwardly of the screen, it is preferred that thescreen extend substantially adjacent the supporting door. Therefore, asshown in FIG. 2 and in FIGS.4 and 5, screen i3 should preferably have aheight such that it will extend around the outer surfaces of thelowermost supporting member or assembly ill, and be connected to arearwardly disposed supporting member 23; A spacing element or bracket24 is conveniently interposed between and connected to members 23 and l1at the lower end of the assembly. Any suitable number of these bracketsmay be thus employed. As will be apparent, with such a construction,light images defined upon the screen and emanating from a projectorrearwardly of the same will have their lower margins appearing adjacentthe iioor surface. Therefore, it will be unnecessary either to disguisethe gap which would otherwise exist between the floor and the lower zoneof the screen, or to elevate actors in advance of that screen upon aplatform above the lower horizontal supporting member lll of theassembly.

Corner pieces or units serve to connect the adjacent ends of thehorizontal frame members 11 with the vertical frame members l2. Thesecorner pieces, as shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and l0, include preferably hollowtubular members 25 and 2d pivotally connected at their adjacent ends bymeans lof a bolt 27 or any other suitable coupling structure. FlatesZ7', preferably of triangular coniiguration, are secured one to each ofmembers 25 and 26. The adjacent edges of these plates overlap eachother, for which reason each of these plates preferably has its baseedge and the edge extending from the corner defined by members 25 and 26lying at angles in excess of 45 with respect to each other. Curved rowsof openings 28 and 29 are formed in the different plates 27.'. When themembers 25 and 26 are disposed at right angles to each other, these rowswill diverge, as clearly shown in FIG. 9.

f The individualV openings of rows 2S and 29 may be aligned with eachother by swinging supporting members 25 and 26 from the position shownin FIG. 8 to that illustrated in FIG. 9 and beyond the latter position.

'l`o this end, a dolly spense? a J "ft la When so aligned, a bolt andwing nut assembly 30 may be extended through the openings and tightened.Under these circumstances, members and 26 will extend at obtuse angleswith respect to each other. Conveniently, bolt and nut assemblies 31secure plates 27 against movement with respect to members 25 and Z6.Similar bolt and nut assemblies may provide the pivots 27 for pivotallycoupling these members to each other.

The reason for having the corner units embrace an adjustableconstruction such that the horizontal and vertical supporting members 11and 12 may in each instance extend at an obtuse angle with respect toeach other is that these supporting members, with the screen underproper tension, will tend to sag or bend. This would be true unlessmembers 11 and 12 were made of such heavy stock as to be completelyunwieldy. When members such as these do flex or bend, then itis apparentthat the screen will not be supported in properly taut condition, freefrom any wrinkles or other objectionable characteristics. By having theelements 25 and 426 extend in directions deiining an angle greater thana right angle, then, despite the fact that members Il and l2 may be ofrelatively light stock, those members will not sag or 'ilex under screentension, so that the screen will embody objectionable characteristics.Rather, members Il and will have, under initial conditions, a slightoutward bow. With the screen mounted in position and exerting thetension on these members which will inevitably result, they will beattened, so that throughout the major portieri oi their length they willextend in substantially straight lines, with the major zones of thediterent members lying substantially at right angles to each other.

According to a preferred concept of this invention, it is intended thatthe horizontal members lll, ver-tical members 12 and the corner units beformed of different parts. Those parts muy conveniently each includemetallic tube portions rectangular in section, as shown especially inFIGS. 4 and ll, and which slidably ensleeve smaller tubul'ar sections 32serving as dowels. These parts may be secured against axial shiftingwith respect to each other by providing them with openings alignable toreceive bolt assemblies similar to the assembly illustrated in FIG. l1.In FIG. 3 there has been somewhat schematically illustrated one end oftubular member 26 and sections ll providing member il. hese sections arecoupled by dowcl pieces 32, as illustrated in this gure. It is apparentthat with reasonable tolerance existing between the parts, the saggingcondition afore described will be greatly emphasized when the screen iscoupled to the frame under proper tension.

Obviously, by thus providing sectional assemblies, it will'be feasiblefor an operator to quickly group together parts such that frames arefurnished which will be of diverse sizes to mount screens of differentareas. For example, each of sections 11 may have an over-all length ofaround 3'. The members and 26 providing the corne-r units may each havea length of slightly in excess of 1. Therefore, by grouping togetherthree sections 11' by means of dowel pieces and bolts, and inserting theends of these sections one into each of the members 26 'of the cornerunits, an overall length in excess of l2 may be achieved. By resortingto similar procedures, a desired height of frame may be produced. Withthe parts being of proper length, that frame will properly Amount a 9 byl2 screen 13. By simply adding one section il. to each of the upper andlower units 11 of the trame, and a corresponding section to each of thevertically extending Ymembers 12 of that frame, a screen of, lorexample, l5 by l2 may be properly supported.

New, to connect the screen to these vertical and horizontal supportingmembers, it is preferred to employ a quickly detachable couplingassembly. This will conveniently embrace grommets 33 secured againstmoveyment within the marginally reinforced zone 14 of the `screen andengaged by the free ends of hook elements 34. Those hoolt elements, asshown particularly in FIG. 4,

CFI

may have their shank portions substantially permanently secured to thetab parts 35 of rubber loops 36 encircling adjacent supporting members.It is obvious that the marginal zones of the screen may thus be quicklysecured to supporting portions or members adjacent the same, andlikewise readily uncoupled from those supporting portions when desired.In the event that the screen does not have to pass below the lowerhorizontal supporting member 11, as in FIG. 4, then member 23 may bedispensed with, and the loops 36 may be directly associated with memberIl.

It is apparent that as desired or necessary, the bolt and nut assemblies3l may vhave associated with them suitable loch washers, as in FIGS. 4and 5, in addition to spacing washers, as shown in FIG. ll. Also, if thedesigner prefers au assembly not requiring the use of wrenches, then inlieu of conventional nuts, wing nuts, as indicated at 30, may beemployed. The ends of the strap 24 conveniently terminate in foot orbearing portions 37, as illustrated in FGS. 4, 5 and 7, to assureagainst undesired movements with respect to the elements, therebyproviding an inherently stable structure. It the dolly assembly, asillustrated in FIGS. l and 2, is unnecessary, then it may be discarded,and suitable foot portions may deiine the lower nd of the frame, if suchportions are found to be necessary.

As will be apparent, the greater the length of the horizontally andvertically extending supporting members, the greater will be thetendency of these members to sag when made of material of acceptablegauge and supporting :1 screen. The series of openings 28 and 29 may beemployed as registering marks compensating for any such saggingtendency, according to the area of the screen. For example, with foureach of these openings, an alignment of that pair which are closest tothe pivot 27 may provide a frame structure suitable for supporting an 9by l0 screen. The aligning of the next outermost pair of openings maysimilarly furnish a mounting for a 9' by l2 screen, the next pair ofopenings receiving the bolt assembly 3G in the case of a l0 by 14screen, and the iinai pair of these openings serving to receive thecoupling element when a 13 by 18 screen is employed. In other words, anincreasingly obtuse angle will be defined by members 25 and Z6 underthis series of adjustments. This increase in angularity will in efect beneutralized by the increased sagging or flexure of members il and 12when mounting screens of progressively larger areas, with a consequentincrease in leverage, as well as in the number of tensioning loops. Itwill be found in connection with this structure that the different-sizedscreens will be adequately and properly supported, so as to deiine agenerally rectangular conliguration, with the opposite vertical mem bersl2 and horizontal members Il extending generally parallel to each other.

Thus, among others, the several objects of the invention as specificallyaforenoted are achieved. Obviously, numerous changes in construction andrearrangements of the parts may be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as denedby the claims.

We claim:

l. A screen and frame assembly, said frame comprising horizontally andvertically extending members having a tendency to ex when subjected tostress, corner pieces comprising elements pivotally connected to eachother and coupled to said members, plates secured one to each of saidelements and extending toward each other to have a zone of overlapping,said plates being each formed with a plurality of openings within saidzone of overlapping, means extensible through aligned oper ings of thedifferent plates for retaining the latter and said elements againstrelative movements, a screen of substantially rectangular outlinesurrounded by said members and corner pieces, means yieldinglyconnecting said members and the adjacent screen edges to place suchscreen under vtension and accordingly place said members under stresssuch that they ex and bow toward each other through their central zones,the openings in the diierent plates successively aligning as saidelements are swung from positions defining less` than a right angle topositions deining an angle greater than a right angle; the portions ofthe members adjacent said elements in the ylatter position likewiseextending with respect to each other to deiine an angle greater than aright angle and thus maintaining all edge zones of said screen underysubstantially `equal tension despite the flexing of said members.

2. In an assembly as defined in claim 1, the arrangement of the openingsformed in the different plates embracing a pattern such that they extendin rows ontwardly from the pivot connecting the elements and with theother openings in the different plates being out of registry with eachother when a pair of those openings are aligned.

3. In an assembly as dened in claim 1, a supporting member disposedrearwardly of, parallel to and `above a lower one of said horizontallyextending members, and a spacing and supporting bracket interposedbetween such lower member and lthe supporting member extending parallelthereto.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

